Selling Tickets and Gigs?

[NightFall]

Hi all.

I was just wondering about this. I realized the ticketing system seemed really flawed back then,
but what if the organizers needed to cover up for their losses, instead of trying to cheat bands of
money?

I even participated in a pay to play gig for Freeman's Land, at Homeclub, I think it was 20 tickets
at 12 dollars each, which honestly seemed crazy. And even after the gig they would tell you something
like your band has been selected. And make you sell another 15 tickets or something.

Now that I'm involved in the sound and equipment scene, I do realize that companies do have to cover for the rental of space and equipment.

Is this whole band selling tickets thing unethical, or if I ran an event for people to sell like 10 tickets, and if they can't sell it they can negotiate, would it be alright, or is everyone going to have to charge ticketing at the door?

I guess bands have to look at it in both ways too, even tickets at the door gigs need a great amount of sales for the organizers to break even. And organizers need to know that this is not a money making scam thing like what they did at Gashaus.

Please let me know your thoughts, I'm really interested in organizing an event, but now that I've found an ideal location, I don't know where to begin.

Thanks all.

 

[Jumpin'Jellybean]

Bands should be encouraged to sell as many as possible and not be forced into selling a certain amount before they can play. If it is the latter case, then it is merely a form of P2P.
However, are there other ways to lower cost/get free or cheap advertising? This might work better as opposed to making bands sell tickets. just a thought.

 

[MadWerewolfBoy]

haha forcing bands to sell twenty tickets is a big joke. I've helped with organising a gig for a group of friends' bands and this particular club had this profit sharing thingy, which meant that there would be no fixed $$ involved for the rental of the place, but the profits of tickets will be fully shared bewteen organiser and club. not to go into details of the figures, but the minimum number of tickets to be sold was at least 50

FIFTY

now for a gig with just five bands, each band only needs to sell 10 tickets, at whatever price the organiser wanted it to be. if this target was met, there will be no loss whatsoever on the organisers side. infact, he would have about 50% of the profit from the ticket sales.

 

[NightFall]

I guess that advertising for an event isn't really a problem now that we have places like soft.com.sg,
but the cost involved in trying to even start an event is a problem.

I've been working with Scape, and unless bands really have a good following, it's kind of difficult to even break even.
Even though places like Scape promote healthy lifestyles through music, there still is a substantial charge for the organizer. Not to mention that the organizer has to provide equipment and stuff.

Encouraging bands to sell as many as possible is a good idea, but knowing some Singapore bands, they may not even put any effort into selling if there wasn't a quota to perform. I know of this free gig that Music villa once did, but eventually a lot of bands just pulled out of it, without consideration that it was already an opportunity to perform, simply because Singaporeans are just like that, taking a gift horse in it's mouth.

I wish there was another way I could organize a gig without so much complications. Only thing is to cover my losses though, not like some mass media marketing thing. If event venues could recognize that, it would be wonderful too. I did several posts asking for a potential event place, but so far haven't been able to find an affordable one...

 

[NightFall]

=MadWerewolfBoy

50 tickets is a bit much. I was only looking at around 10.

If you know any club that's kind enough to work with no specific rental, please let me know.

This would be an added advantage since my company deals in equipment.

Thanks!

 

[MadWerewolfBoy]

huh, i don't get it, you want to hold a gig with only 10 audiences?

 

[NightFall]

That would be entirely up to the bands selling the tickets right? I mean if they sell more then they can have a bigger audience? Maybe offer band incentives if they sell above 10 tickets? I'm really not sure. I'm just bringing this whole ticket selling thing in question. Is it so wrong if it's not trying manipulate a band?

 

[misfitramones]

Maybe you want to consider small-scale gigs like ones in jamming studios. You can minimize your costs if you can negotiate the terms well with the owners.

If you are a one-man operation, you cannot do all the promotion yourself. Putting your gig on Soft is just not enough. Out of 500 views, only 1 may turn up. Putting your gig ad on FB also is not enough. Out of 100 people who say they are attending, only 5 will appear on that day itself. You still need to rope in the bands to do promotion. Hence, asking them to sell tickets will make them drop their prima donna wannabe attitude and work hard to get that appreciative audience for the show.

However, you need to give bands incentives to sell tickets. Tell them that for every ticket they sell they get 50% of the revenue, or any percentage for commission. If they are still lazy to move their butts, tell them nicely that you need to cover cost and if they can help sell tickets, not only can they can earn some cash but you can also cover cost. Hence, being tactful is key here. You need to tell them subtly that you are not forcing them to sell X number of tickets but by putting some positive pressure, they might be inclined to work for themselves and help you out in the process.

Also, selection of bands is very important. You need to make sure that the bands you choose for your gig can pull in the crowd, at least 8-10 people per band (a band may suck but if it has a strong support base, you may need to consider it for your show). This is so that the bands can earn some cash from the tickets commission, and you can make some profit after deducting costs. And if everyone happy, the model works and you can organize more of such small-scale yet everybody-wins kinda gig.

Some bands may look at this scornfully at this model. They think that playing in a jamming studio gig got no class, or an insult to their musician talent whatsoever, or they think that you can't get a crazy crowd out of playing in a jamming studio gig. Well there are 2 ways to respond to them:

1. Even the biggest rock stars have humble beginnings, they play in garage shows or busk in the streets. Since we don't have garages in HDB, and you can't play heavy rock music while busking, the jamming studio gigs are like those garage shows in the US.

2. Before you play in front of 100 or 1000 people, you need to know how to entertain 10 people first.

Yeah. That's my point of view on this matter. I hope you are able to organize your very own DIY gig without any losses. If you start with a small scale gig, you can take note of any shortcomings, learn from them and with experience, you surely can organize a larger scale gig.

 

[NightFall]

Heya... I didn't get to read your post until just now.

What you've covered is amazing. I fully agree with your opinion regarding this matter.

Thanks a lot misfitramones. I'm going to work something out with my boss and plan for an event for either feb or the following march.

The idea of incentives for bands didn't even strike me like this. Thanks again for your valueable info!

- Jon

 

[MadWerewolfBoy]

Tell them that for every ticket they sell they get 50% of the revenue

That's more like it, not get $2 out of a $12 ticket!

You'll need a venue that can hold at least close to the maximum number of tickets you're planning to sell, imagine getting a venue that can hold 50 people when you've sold 100 tickets. though some may leave after their friends' set, some will stay, then you'll have a problem fitting everybody inside at some point of time.